MLK CONTEST
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
students give voice
and vision -1B
Drawing by
► Porscha Brown
of Crestdale
Middle School
Volume 29 No. 17
www.thecharlottepost.com
Cliarlo
li.iiilnlnililii.iinlnil.iniii.li i 11 i 1111111 n H 1111
"SI;:.-. P:
James S . Ouke i i'li ai ■'
100 F:sa; tiss rofo Rg
Chariot Is KC 28C10"SJ02
$1.00
The Voice of the Black Community
Dean
WSOCTV
news
connection
Black uMe
criBcalio
success in
S. Camilla
Democratic hopefuls
need it to win primary
By Artellia Burch
arTellia.burvh@lhechaiioHeposr.coni
Endorsements from At Gore and other
Democratic heavyweights have made Howard
Dean an early favorite for the party’s nomination.
But will that sway South
Carolina voters?
The Palmetto State’s Feb. 3 pri
mary can either propel a candi
date after the early tests in Iowa
and New Hampshire or add
another nail into flagging bids for
the nomination.
“This election in South Carolina
will allow people to see if the
Democrats have a candidate that
can appeal to the people in the
South,” said Scott Huffman, Ph.D., political sci
ence professor at Winthrop University in Rock
Hill, S.C. “South Carolina will more than likely go
to (President) Bush. But if a candidate can appeal
to South Carolina voters, he may be able to pick
up some states in the South. For a Democratic
candidate to win the presidency, they have to
crack the South.
“In 1992 the Democrats had Bill Clinton, a can
didate that could win in the South. And look - he
won the presidency.”.
Sharon Powers, a registered Republican, says
there isn’t a Democrat she can identify with.
Please see WOOING/2A
Equity activists
want schools to
boost achievement
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thecbarlotieposi.com
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ranking as one
of America’s best urban districts doesn’t impress
black activists.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP and Black
Political Caucus of Mecklenburg are scheduled to
hold a press conference today at 12:30 p.m. to
challenge CMS to improve achievement levels for
inner city and poor students. The
event was pushed back from
Tuesday to coincide with Martin
Luther King’s birthday, said the
Rev. Dwayne Collins, a member of
the NAACP’s Education
Committee.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg outper
formed all urban districts in the
U.S. and nine states in the National Assessment
of Educational Progress for fourth- and eighth-
grader, according to the U.S. Department of
Education. But members of both groups say the
ranking is hollow because black students are far
behind whites in reading and math.
“When we look at it, does it say we accept medi
ocrity and not being the best we can be?” Collins
asked. “In our opinion, that’s nothing to be excited
about.” '
Neighborhood activist Richard McElrath echoed
that sentiment in a December e-mail after CMS’s
results were announced.
Please see ACTIVISTS/3A
WEEK OF JANUARY 15-21, 2004
Also serving Cabarrus, Cra^^^^klenburg, Rowan and York counties
HOW ‘bout them panthers
PHOTOS/WADE NASH
Carolina Panthers linebacker Will Witherspoon gets a grip on St. Louis Rams running back
Marshall Faulk during the Panthers’ 29-23 double-overtime win in the NFC Divisional playoff
game last week in St. Louis. The Panthers play Philadelphia for a chance at the Super Bowl.
Playoff success gives fans a
reason to scratch 7-year itch
By Cheris Hodges
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Charlotte has become
Panthers coimtiy. Try finding
a parking spot in uptown
Charlotte during a Panthers
playoff game, you might have
better luck finding Osama bin
Laden.
Now the Cardiac Cats are
one game out of the Super
Bowl and fans are gearing up
to celebrate the Panthers, sec
ond NFC Championship Game
appearance in it,s nine year
existence.
Carolina Panthers merchan
dise is flying off the racks at
the Tfeam Store in Ericsson
Stadium.
“The whole season has been
busy” said Margaret Britt, the
store manager. “Last week we
had a lot of people come in say
ing they were going to St.
Louis. I hadn’t heard anyone
say they were going to
Philadelphia. Maybe they,re
saving for the Super Bowl.”
Panthers fan Viella Mason of
Viella Mason of Gastonia (front, third from left) partied with
husband Bobby and Panthers defensive end Mike Rucker’s
family in St. Louis. Hundreds of Panthers faithful made the St.
Louis trip.
Gastonia made the trek to St.
Louis last weekend - decked
out in her Panthers shirt and
black hat v.dth blue feather boa
— to watch the Panthers win a
game no one but die-hard fans
thought they would. But in
true Carolina fashion, the
Panthers took the game into
overtime, not once, but twice.
And Mason said it was exciting
See CHAMPIONSHIP/2A
FORMER CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR
Rembert to campaign for commissioner
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thecliarlottepost.coin
Two months after losing her
seat on the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg School Board,
Wilhelmenia Rembert is making
a political comeback.
Rembert, a former school
board chair, will announce
Friday her intentions to run for
an at-large seat on the
Mecklenburg board of commis
sioners. She finished fourth in
November’s school board cam
paign, one spot away from re-
election.
Rembert, a registered
Democrat will
face similar
challenges in
the commission
ers race. Low
voter turnout
and «a relative
lack of support
in Charlotte’s
mostly-black
Rembert precincts
doomed
Rembert’s campaign. In the 15
largest precincts, she tallied
4,599 votes out of a potential 28,
567 available. Combined with a
strong turnout in the suburbs for
more conservative candidates
Joe White and Kaye McGany
and moderate Kit Cramer was
also a factor.
Black incumbents have fared
poorly in recent at-large com
missioners races. In 2002,
District 3 commissioner Darrel
Williams was edged out of an at-
large seat. In 2000, the late Jim
Richardson lost despite being an
at-large incumbent.
Republicans hold a 5-4 advan
tage on the county board.
JAMES PEELER
1929-2004
Photographer James
Peeler, who chronicled life
in black Charlotte for more
than 40 years, died last
week at age 74.
Photos
captured
essence of
Charlotte
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@ibecharlot‘epost.cotn
James Peeler was at his
best when holding a camera.
A dean of black photogra
phers in the southeast, Mr.
Peeler died Jan. 9 after an
brief illness. He was buried
Wednesday at Beatties Ford
Memorial Gardens.
Mr. Peeler, 74, saw
Charlotte at its best and
worst during the height of
the Civil Rights Movement
of the 1960s when his work
appeared in Baltimore’s
Afro-American, one of the
top black-oriented newspa
pers in the U.S. He covered
the sit-ins in Charlotte as
well as Rock Hill, S.C.,
chronicling the sacrifices of
AfHcan American protesters
in the face of white — and
sometimes black - resis
tance. He also photographed
^Charlotte’s social and sports
scenes for The Post.
“I was deeply saddened to
learn about Mr. Peeler’s
death,” Post Publisher
(Jerald Johnson said. “He
had a long and storied histo
ry with this publication dur
ing my father’s (Bill
Johnson) tenure. The collec
tion of his photos tells a
remarkable story about
African American life in
Charlotte in years gone by.
Mr. Peeler was a great pho
tographer, but more impor
tantly he was a great man.
He will be missed.”
But Mr. Peeler’s reputation
was cemented as a mentor to
other photographers. When
it came to learning the ropes
about the marketing of pho
tos, he was the master.
“When I first came to town
in ‘81,1 made a point to meet
the black photographers to
see what was going on in the
market,” said Calvin
Ferguson, a freelance pho
tographer whose work
See PHOTOGRAPHER/2A
Inside
Editorials 4A
Life 4B
Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Real Estate 5C
Business 8C
A&E ID
Classified 4D
To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
© 2004 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
Please
Recycle
o
##oi